House Republican Press Release

April 2, 2008

Press Office: 860-240-8700

STATE REP. CAFERO PRAISES GOVERNOR’S ETHICS REFORMS

REPUBLICANS, DEMOCRATS HELPED CRAFT SWEEPING PLAN

HARTFORD – House Republican Leader state Rep. Lawrence F. Cafero Jr., today praised the sweeping ethics reforms promoted by Gov. M. Jodi Rell that will revoke pensions for corrupt officials and clamp down on fund raising activities in and around the Capitol.

The nine-point proposal was crafted with help from both Republicans and Democrats and Rell urged quick passage in the legislature.

“Many people have worked hard to come together to forge sweeping ethics reforms that are overdue,’’ Cafero said. “I believe this is something that we can agree upon and get a relatively quick vote. The Governor has made ethics reform a top priority this year and we can fully support this measure.’’

Cafero noted that a key provision that has been debated is the revocation of pensions for those officials, state and municipal, who are convicted on corruption charges related to their official duties. Cafero said that he has opposed making the revocation retroactive because many constitutional questions have been raised about that provision.

“I have expressed opposition to reaching back into the past and revoking a pension because many do not believe that would survive a court challenge,’’ Cafero said.

Cafero said he has also pushed to make it a crime for failure to report a bribe. “It would seem to be common sense that failure to report a bribe already was a crime, but we found out it is a loophole that needs to be closed, Cafero said.

The other ethics proposals Cafero noted were:

· Banning chiefs of staff and all other public officials from soliciting campaign contributions from staff members;

· Requiring ethics training all new lawmakers; including the Governor’s spouse as a “public official.